


groomsmen

by desastrista



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Language, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 09:06:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7885027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desastrista/pseuds/desastrista
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captive Prince Week Day 7 - Alternate Universe </p><p>It's a wedding! Laurent asks Jord to be his best man. Jord, still trying to get over his recent breakup, thinks he has a lot on his plate -- and then he meets Damen's best man, Nikandros.</p>
            </blockquote>





	groomsmen

**Author's Note:**

> The premise of this fic began with "Bridesmaids, but set with Captive Prince characters, and Annie gets with Helen." As I began to write, however, the focus of the story started to shift and some of that original inspiration got lost. (Also, Bridesmaids is such a good wedding film, it's very hard to capture its spirit.) Oh well. Hopefully this still stands on its own merits. 
> 
> Also, actual footage of me writing Aimeric as an unsympathetic character: http://i.imgur.com/p9wnQ.gif

When Laurent suggested they grab drinks tonight, Jord had scrambled to look like someone who had not spent the better part of the weekend watching crappy TV and eating even crappier food. A quick shower and a shave later, and he managed to look at least somewhat presentable – although he realized when he got to the bar he hadn’t washed this particular shirt since he had last worn it. 

Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. 

For Jord, it felt like he was doing a little too much of the latter these days. 

But he didn’t want to think about it, so instead he grabbed a scotch for some reinforcements on that front. He was already on his second drink by the time Laurent arrived. Jord was surprised to see the normally impeccable Laurent was looking harried. “Sorry,” he said as he took the seat next to Jord at the bar. “Everyone was calling.” 

Jord had opened his mouth to ask what exactly everyone was calling about, but the words died in his mouth when Laurent held up his right hand. He could only gape at the sight of a small, golden band on Laurent’s ring finger. 

“You got engaged?” he asked. Laurent nodded. 

Vaguely, Jord was aware that he was supposed to smile. He moved the muscles in his mouth to what he hoped were all the right positions. It wasn’t usually a process that required conscious effort. No doubt the end result actually looked quite scary. But Laurent was looking at the ring and smiling to himself, so he probably didn’t notice. 

“Wow!” Jord finally latched on to a safe reaction. His mind raced. What were other socially acceptable things to say? “Do you guys have a date for the wedding?” 

“We’re thinking sometime in the summer. Damen’s parents have a summer house in Ios that should be nice.” Jord had only met Damen a few times so far. He seemed like a good guy. Nice. Made Laurent happy, which was what really mattered. Jord also knew that he was stupidly rich. Admittedly, Laurent was too. Jord sipped at his scotch again. He didn’t even own a suit. He wondered if rich people could spot a rented suit on sight. Probably. 

“And Jord,” Laurent continued, forcing Jord back to the present. “I was hoping that you would be the best man.” 

Jord opened his mouth. He closed it. He opened it again. Finally, he managed to say, “Laurent, that – that’s an honor.” It was true. It was the right thing to say. All things considered, though, he probably could have done better at keeping the horror out of his voice. 

Jord could barely handle the responsibility of being Jord. And now Laurent wanted to trust him with a wedding? 

“You’re one of my oldest friends,” Laurent said. “Damen and I were thinking – a lot of our friends don’t really know each other, and that’s a shame. So we thought that it might be nice to combine the two wedding parties. Just have one big group of groomsmen. You’ll be the best man for my side, and Damen has chosen his best man. We’re having a wedding shower two weeks from now. You can meet everyone then.” 

“Sure, sounds good” Jord said. Meet everyone. It’d be fun. Weddings were fun. Right?

 

****** 

 

Less than a week after he’d spoken with Laurent about the matter, Jord had already decided that weddings were no fun at all. 

There were the expenses. First, Jord looked at what it would cost to buy a suit. Then, he looked at what it would cost to rent a suit. Then, he briefly contemplated the legal expenses he might incur if he stole a suit. He finally texted Orlant to see if he had a suit he could borrow. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Orlant said no. Luckily, though, Orlant responded that he did in fact own one and Jord was welcome to come over to try it on anytime. 

Lest Jord was feeling too hopeful about the endeavor, though, Orlant had ended the message with, “Just tell me you’re not taking Aimeric.” 

Jord took a few hours to respond to that message. 

It had been a few weeks since he had broken up with Aimeric. He told himself that breaking up was for the best. He just wasn’t quite sure yet whether he could really go through with it. (A skepticism that Orlant seemed to share.) Jord and Aimeric had broken up a few times before and always gotten back together soon after. 

Because he really wanted to suffer, Jord decided to pull up some of the photos that Damen and Laurent had posted online. There was the two of them smiling together in their vacation photos. There was Laurent photographing the fancy dish they’d ordered together at a restaurant while Damen smiled happily in the background of the shot. Jord knew he had photos like that with him and Aimeric. Maybe the photos lied. Maybe they were just a carefully manicured version of a relationship that had been full of some truly awful ups and downs. After all, there weren’t high resolution photos of Jord when he found Aimeric was cheating on him. But still, a treacherous voice whispered to him, he had been happy when those photos were taken. 

Jord looked at his phone again. 

He still had Aimeric’s number entered in it. There was still time for him to call Aimeric, to apologize for breaking up with him, to ask Aimeric to take him back. Jord gave a sigh and told Orlant that he’d stop by next weekend. He didn’t answer Orlant’s question about Aimeric. 

Jord could not wait for this wedding to be over with. 

 

****** 

 

The day of the wedding shower arrived. Jord tried to reminded himself that this was for Laurent and to make Laurent happy. That didn’t make him feel much better, so he consoled himself that the sooner this was over the sooner he could put the whole wedding business behind him and not deal with troublesome thoughts about tuxedos and plus ones and happily ever afters, at least until his next friend decided to get married. _That_ was the motivation he needed as he started the drive to the shower. 

The shower was at Damen’s house, although to call it a house did not really do it justice. It was a mansion. Quite possibly the driveway alone took up more square feet than Jord’s apartment. And every inch of that driveway was tastefully decorated with trees and carefully manicured gardens. It was a nice, long drive that allowed Jord plenty of time to reflect upon how he had bought his car used, how one of its windows was broken, and how it didn’t always start reliably. 

Jord was wearing a sports jacket he blew too much of his savings on for a job interview he had had years ago and the tie that Aimeric bought him for his birthday last year. He hadn’t wanted to wear the tie, but it was probably the nicest tie he owned. He tugged at it absentmindedly as he passed a decorative gate delicately framed by ivy. 

There was a butler passing out champagne flutes as he entered the mansion. Jord had served drinks at events like this before, back when he was in high school. He’d never been on the receiving end of the drinks before. Taking a glass of champagne just made him feel awkward. At least, he consoled himself, it gave him something to do with his hands. 

“Jord!” a voice called out. Jord turned around to see Damen and Laurent walking towards him. They both look sharply dressed and not at all like they had to rely on an ex’s gifts to get dressed up. Jord tried to smile. It felt weak. Luckily, though, Damen seemed undeterred by his tepid enthusiasm and provided plenty of his own. “Glad you could make it!” he said as he clapped Jord on the back. “Have any trouble finding the place?” 

It had been the largest estate for miles. “No,” said Jord faintly. “It was pretty hard to miss.” 

Damen gave a good-natured laugh and Jord tried to smile as if he had intended to make a joke. “Well,” Damen continued, “Laurent says you’ve agreed to be his best man. I’m so excited for you to be part of the wedding. The rest of the groomsmen are already here. This is a good chance to introduce all of you. Now to start, Laurent, do you know where Lazar is –?” 

“Knowing him,” Laurent responded offhand, “probably at the bar.” 

It was only 1 PM. But there Lazar was, leaning against the bar, chatting with a very fit Akielon. Jord couldn’t make out most of the conversation, but the way that Lazar was smiling, Jord thought he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Laurent had to clear his throat twice before Lazar turned to them.

“Lazar,” Laurent introduced. “This is Jord. We grew up together. Jord, Lazar and I work together.” 

“Oh, hey,” Lazar said, waving one hand casually. With his tousled hair and six o’clock shadow, he walked the delicate line between ‘disheveled rock star’ and ‘homeless’. “Always nice to meet another friend of Laurent’s.” He reached out a hand to Jord, who shook it. Lazar had a very enthusiastic shake. 

“I wonder where Erasmus went off to,” Damen said. He turned to Laurent. “He was one of the first ones here, but I haven’t seen him since.” 

“Knowing him,” Laurent responded dryly, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was helping the staff.” He turned to Lazar and Jord with a slightly pained expression on his face. “He’s chronically helpful. I don’t know if he’s even aware of it. You go to a party with him, you’ll feel guilty about not volunteering right away to wash the dishes.” 

They eventually found Erasmus outside. When he turned at them and smiled, Jord found himself wondering why no small woodland creatures had yet flocked to Erasmus to do his bidding. He just seemed the type. Clean cut. Big open smile. He looked like he had stepped out of a Disney movie, or, failing that, at least a detergent commercial. Jord looked down at his shirt. He noticed a stain near the hem. He tried and failed to hide it behind his jacket. This shirt definitely needed to go through the wash again. 

Damen introduced Erasmus. “We’ve worked together a few years now.” 

“Oh, I’m so excited to meet all of you,” Erasmus said, as he shook Lazar’s hands and then Jord’s. He really sounded like he meant it, too. Jord shot a nervous look at Lazar, who seemed undisturbed by the events unfolding before him. Jord wasn’t sure what to do in the face of such terrifying sincerity. He tried to smile. 

“I just love weddings, don’t you?” Erasmus asked. Jord gave a halting nod. Sure. Maybe he could be convinced that weddings were fun, despite all existing evidence to the contrary. After all, Laurent and Damen would probably have an open bar at theirs. 

Jord was fairly confident that was not what Erasmus was talking about. 

“Is this everyone?” Lazar asked. 

“No, Nik is probably here somewhere,” Damen said. “Oh, there he is. Nikandros!” 

Jord saw someone who was standing near the other side of the lawn turn towards them. It took all of Jord’s self control not to stare too openly. Nikandros was muscular. Very muscular. Jord was surprised Nikandros was even able to turn around to look at them without tearing his shirt. He probably had to keep spare shirts around, just in case he accidentally caught himself flexing. 

And the expression on his face. At first, Jord thought he would characterize it as long-suffering. But no. That term was inadequate. Instead, Nikandros looked like already knew all your problems and already did not have time for any of them. If Erasmus had made Jord reflect on his personal failing as a human being, the look Nikandros gave Jord said: don’t bother. Nikandros was prepared to do all that work for him and more. 

Jord reflexively found himself trying to stand up taller. Ok, so he hadn’t gone to the gym in a few months. Maybe he’d been putting on beer weight since the breakup. But Jord had never been out-benched before. 

A small voice told him that it was because he had never gone to the gym with this guy. 

“Damen,” Nikandros said. “So, these are the rest of the groomsmen?” 

Erasmus and Lazar shook his hand and made pleasantries. To Jord’s amazement, they managed to do it without trotting out any justifications for their existence. Jord kept to the back. When it was time to shake Nikandros’s hand, he congratulated himself on how he did _not_ spontaneously announce how much he could deadlift. Nikandros’s grip was iron. 

“Nikandros is my oldest and most loyal friend,” Damen said. He had a pleasant smile on, as if this whole affair was actually going to be enjoyable. Jord was still trying to convince himself of this fact. But Damen had an infectious smile. Even Nikandros had started to smile. “Well, you guys,” Damen continued, “This is the whole gang. Laurent and I are excited for you guys to get to know each other. And planning the bachelor parties!” 

The smile fell from Jord’s face. “Parties?” he echoed. He hoped he had misheard. 

“Damen was thinking, we’ve consolidated the wedding party, but it might make sense for us to still have two separate bachelor parties. It seems a lot for you guys to plan, though,” Laurent explained. “So don’t feel any pressure.” 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Nikandros said with a shrug. Erasmus and Lazar both nodded agreement. 

Jord thought of the rehearsal dinner. The registry. And now not just one bachelor party, but two. He thought of his checking account and tried not to wince. 

“Of course,” Jord said weakly. 

After all, a little party never hurt anyone, right? 

 

****** 

 

The emails began right away. It was Nikandros who took the lead, talking about what they should plan for Damen. He tossed out a few ideas. An all-inclusive weekend trip to Isthmas. Living it up for a weekend in the Vaskian Empire. 

Jord hoped Lazar or Erasmus would say something to stem this tide of nonsense, but they merely joined in with even more outlandish suggestions of their own. 

Jord tried to steer the options more local. “It might be hard to get time off of work for a trip like that,” he said. Meanwhile, he flipped through his phone’s contact list, trying to figure out if anyone he knew owed him money. He’d lent Orlant like $50 once, right, when his wallet had gotten stolen? Time to collect. 

He lingered over Aimeric’s entry in his phone. Aimeric had always been encouraging him to live more, to go out and do stuff. When things had been going good between them, Jord had thought Aimeric was wild and carefree. When things had been going not so good, he’d called Aimeric irresponsible.

There were a lot of memories bundled up in just one entry in his phone’s contact list. 

With a sigh, he deleted Aimeric's information. It was time for him to move on.

Orlant responded to his text only a moment later. “Calling in the debt? Must be bad.” 

An email notification popped up. It was from Lazar. He had suggested they go to one of the casinos nearby. That would be fine. Jord wouldn’t have to gamble and drinks at a casino were usually pretty cheap. He immediately fired off a reply talking about how that sounded like a great idea. He didn’t want to give Nikandros a chance to shoot down the one option that Jord could actually afford. 

“Weddings suck,” he replied to Orlant. And then he sent, “Please don’t get married. I don’t think I could afford you getting married too.” 

 

******** 

 

The day before the bachelor party, Nikandros forwarded the group an invoice for a limo that he had ordered. The message just said “Don’t tell Damen.” 

Jord held his head in his hands for a full minute before he could respond. 

“Wow, that sounds cool,” he replied. It was great how emails made it so easy to lie. “I just heard from my boss that I’ve got to finish up some work, though, so I’ll just join you guys there.” 

“Working? On a Saturday night?” came the shocked email from Erasmus. 

“Yeah….you know how work is.”

Alright, even with the help of email, lying wasn’t Jord’s strong suit. But at least he wasn’t going to go into debt just for a stupid limo ride. 

Jord spent too long that Saturday night looking over what he had to wear. No doubt all of it would look cheap and disheveled compared to whatever Nikandros was going to wear. At least, he told himself proudly, at least this time around he had managed to remember to wash all his clothes beforehand. 

He ended up taking a bus to the casino and forged an immediate path to the bar. He considered ordering a scotch, and then remembered why he was at the casino tonight. He ordered a shot, and then, just for good measure, another. By the time he decided he should maybe actually look for the rest of the wedding party, he had the beginnings of a pleasant buzz.

It was good timing, because that what when the party found him. 

“Jord!” Damen’s voice rang out, too loud even by casino standards. “There are you. Glad you could make it, man.” He clapped Jord on the back so hard Jord almost fell off his chair. “We’re just getting started!” He looked at the bartender, “Another round, on me.” 

The bartender summoned five more shots. They were all suspiciously bright blue. Jord gripped his with trepidation. He consoled himself that he had the whole night ahead of him. This would just make it easier to get through. 

“To marriage!” Damen called out, as he pounded his back. Jord just took his with a shrug. It tasted surprisingly good. Damen turned to the bartender, and said, “Keep ‘em coming.” 

Nikandros arched an eyebrow at that. “Damen, man, just as long as you don’t go dancing on any tables.” 

Damen smiled in response. “Let me tell you guys about the last time I went out with Nik,” Damen began. Erasmus and Lazar leaned in. Jord slung one arm back against the bar. Nikandros stepped up to the bar besides him. 

“Can you believe this guy,” he said, and it took Jord a moment to realize that Nikandros was talking to him. Damen was in the middle of telling the story. Jord could only half-listen, but he was pretty sure that the story had just begun and already Damen and Nikandros had managed to get themselves in trouble. 

“I guess he’s Laurent’s problem now,” Jord said wryly. 

“I’ll drink to that,” Nikandros said. “Are you going to get anything else?” 

“I’ll pass for now,” Jord shrugged. 

“Really?” Nikandros looked skeptical. “Drinks on me. I wouldn’t wish sobriety around a drunk Damen on my worst enemy.” Jord couldn’t help but laugh at that. He felt himself relaxing slightly. Maybe, just maybe, he had misjudged Nikandros earlier. 

“Sure, whatever you want,” Jord replied. Nikandros asked for two bourbons and took a seat next to Jord. 

“So,” Nikandros said, “This your first bachelor party?” 

“Yeah,” Jord sighed. “Feels a bit weird. I remember the first time I heard about Damen. Laurent complained so bitterly about him. And now you see the two of them together and it’s just –.” He laughed, “Sorry, I forgot – you’re Damen’s friend. It must sound weird to hear me talking about him like that.” 

Nikandros just raised his eyebrows as he took a sip of his drink. “No, not at all,” he said. “Damen was exactly the same. Complained for a week about this stuck up blonde he had met. Next thing I know, he’s dating the guy, and soon they’re engaged. I should have known. Blonde and with a bad disposition. Damen always had a type.” 

Jord laughed again. “I guess,” Nikandros said, “For all that, though, I think Laurent’s made Damen a better person. I’m sure,” he let out an amused snort, “They’ll talk about that at the wedding, and leave of all the other inconvenient parts.” 

“To bad beginnings,” Jord raised his glass. Nikandros clinked it. “And happy endings.” 

“To our friends being idiots, but idiots in love.” 

They were silent for a moment. Nikandros asked, “So, anyone special in your life?” 

“There used to be,” Jord said. Part of him knew that he should just shut up. But the other part of him was alcohol, though, so that decision was overruled. “He cheated on me.” 

“So you broke up with him? Good on you.” 

“Yeah,” Jord said. That would have been a good story. Aimeric cheated on him, Jord put his foot down and left him. There was just one problem with that story: it wasn’t true. “He, uh, cheated on me a few times,” Jord continued. “We broke up a few times, always got back together again. But then – well, he cheated on me on my birthday and I thought, ok, this is the final straw.” 

Nikandros was quiet for a moment. Jord had heard the whole gamut of responses from Laurent and Orlant. He was pretty sure he could guess what Nikandros was about to say. His friends had tried insulting Aimeric, tried telling Jord that he would find someone better, everything. None of it had helped. 

Nikandros laughed. “Dude,” he said, after a moment. “That sucks.” 

Ok, Jord was wrong. Laurent and Orlant hadn’t tried that one before. It was simple. Straightforward. And Nikandros wasn’t wrong. “Yeah,” Jord said. And then he laughed too. “It really did suck.” 

“Get another drink,” Nikandros said. “Trust me, Damen’s probably like two glasses from singing. You do not want to be nursing a broken heart while listen to Damen sing. Really,” he said, as he took his own advice and got another drink from the bartender, “You don’t want to be doing anything while Damen is singing. Unless that something is running away.” 

Jord motioned to the bartender, and he got another. Nikandros looked like a man who knew what he was talking about. 

“What about you?” he asked. “Anyone special for you?” 

Jord looked at Nikandros. His _muscles_ probably had muscles, he found himself thinking. And plus, his whiskey-soaked mind supplied, Nikandros just seemed like a genuinely nice guy – yeah, there was no way he was single. 

“I haven’t dated in a while,” Nikandros said with a shrug. “I spent the last two years running my own business. It took a lot out of me. Didn’t have time to try to meet anyone.” 

“Did it work out for you?” 

“I finally sold it this year,” he said. “It wasn’t a total failure, I got a good price but – it wasn’t quite what I wanted. So you look back and think, damn, two whole years of my life and what do I have to show for it.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Now, I’m looking for something new.” 

Jord didn’t say anything for a moment. 

“You’re shitting me,” he said finally. He couldn’t help himself. He started to laugh. “You’re between jobs and you were the ones talking about flying to all these exotic locations.” 

Nikandros was giving him a long look, and Jord concluded with a shrug, “I consider myself lucky when I can take any vacation at all, let alone flying somewhere like Isthmas.” 

“If this is about the expense of this bachelor party – you should have said something,” Nikandros looked genuinely apologetic. This was getting worse and worse for Jord. 

“Help me, I’m poor,” he said in a mocking tone. 

“Well, there’s one bachelor party left. What does Laurent like?” Nikandros asked. 

Jord had to consider for a moment. “It’s a bachelor party and all I can think of are strippers,” he shook his head morosely. “I can’t get Laurent strippers. He’ll kill me.” He thought about it for a minute longer. “He would genuinely have me murdered. He’d plan it out. It would take years. He’d want to draw out my suffering.” 

Nikandros laughed. “I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that. Like I said – Damen, he has a type. Ok, I’ll save you years of having to constantly look over your shoulder to see if Laurent had finally come for you. Absolutely no strippers. What else does he like?” 

“He used to like horses,” Jord said after a moment’s contemplation. He put his head in his hands, “Not in like, an eleven year old girl type of way. He used to have a few of them as a kid. Rich boy. I think he still likes to go riding, when he can. Maybe we could – I could rob a bank and we could go to a country club or something.” 

“Country clubs aren’t that expensive,” Nikandros said, and when Jord was about to snap at him, he added, “You’d probably just have to hold up a convenience store to afford it.” Jord gave him what he hoped was an aloof and penetrating glare. He had drank too much to really pull it off. It probably just looked like his face was melting. That’s what it felt like, at any rate. 

“I’ve got some connections,” Nikandros said. “I can see if they’ll let us ride for free or at least a reduced rate.” 

At that moment, Jord heard a noise that might generously be described as singing, and Nikandros looked pained. “I have to save Damen from himself,” he said. As they’d been talking, the others in the group had wandered away. Jord had been so focused on Nikandros he hadn’t even noticed. “Give me a moment,” Nikandros rushed off in the direction of the singing. 

Jord watched him go, and he felt a strange lightness he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

 

******* 

 

Laurent kicked all their asses at riding. No surprise there. 

Lazar surprised everyone by just being able to stay on the horse. He was wearing shades and no one in the party – with the possible exception of Erasmus – doubted that he was hungover. Erasmus seemed pained whenever he had to give the horse orders and it took advantage of the situation to stop every few stops and start eating the grass around it. Nikandros was the only one close to being as good at riding as Laurent, and he kept having to rein in his horse to help Erasmus. All things considered, Jord was okay at riding. He didn’t really want to be here, the horse didn’t want to be here. There was a mutual understanding. 

Despite his reservations about horseback riding, though, Jord had to admit the place Nikandros had suggested was amazing. It was miles away from the city. Blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see, interrupted only by the occasional lazy cloud. Summer was just beginning, and the green of the hills were peppered with red and white flowers. The five of them rode for about forty minutes before they arrived at a brook, where they stopped to tie up the horses and eat lunch. They sat in silence for a long time, just listening to the steady babble of the water. 

“Fucking picturesque,” Lazar finally said. Laurent just let out a huff of amusement. 

“I got so caught up in wedding planning,” he said, “that it’s been a while since I was able to go riding. Thanks, everyone.” 

“It was Jord’s idea,” Nikandros supplied. He flashed a warm smile at Jord, whose face felt suddenly warm. 

“So, Laurent” Jord asked, a little too quickly, “are you excited to get married?” The wedding was coming up in about two weeks. “Are all the wedding preparations done?”

Laurent let out a dramatic sigh. “I hope I never have to have so many opinions about pointless things again in my life,” he muttered. “Damen wanted to choose the centerpiece by throwing darts. I told him no. I regret that choice. He was on to something. No one is going to notice the fucking centerpieces.” Laurent shook his head. “I’m excited to be married. The wedding – well, I’ll be happy when it’s over.” 

Jord had to fight to hold his surprise. He’d been thinking of the wedding as something he just had to get through for Laurent’s sake. He had never imagined Laurent to be anything but excited about the wedding. 

“I think,” Lazar said, “you just got to approach it like one big party.” 

“Yeah,” Erasmus chipped in. “It’s a chance for all your friends to come together to see a very special moment in your life – you and Damen pledging to love and take care of each other for the rest of your lives.” 

“All your friends will be there to witness something special in your life,” Nikandros said, “And then we’ll all eat some good food, dance to some music, drink too much. It’ll be fun.” 

Laurent looked contemplative. “I think you’re right. It’s easy to lose track of that when you’re picking out stationary, or choosing a photographer, or trying to think of ‘colors’ for your wedding.” He let out a little laugh. “But yeah. It’s supposed to be fun. Damen and I worked hard planning it, and I think it’ll be fun.” 

They packed up their stuff not long after. The ride back was quiet. Everyone said their goodbyes. Jord found himself lingering. Nikandros was lingering too. 

“This was nice,” Nikandros said. “It was a really good choice, to go riding.” 

“And now I can sleep easier, knowing Laurent won’t come after me in the night.” They both laughed. It was getting late. A long car ride still awaited both of them. Jord knew he should be going. But he found himself desperately wanting to stay. “Can’t believe the wedding is coming up so soon. A few more weeks and then Damen and Laurent will be off on their honeymoon and I’ll just be – nursing my bank account back to full health, I guess.” 

It struck Jord very suddenly that after the wedding he might not see Nikandros again. 

“Do you, uh,” Nikandros said, and he fumbled for words in a way that surprised Jord. “Do you want to grab drinks sometime?” 

Jord just blinked in confusion. “You mean like for the rehearsal dinner?” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of a date.” 

Jord probably shouldn’t have looked so surprised. Probably he should have played it cool. Definitely not stuttered in response. Nikandros let out an awkward laugh, and Jord was sure he already regretted asking. 

“I mean, I get that maybe it’s too soon –.” 

“No. I mean, yes,” Jord said. His throat felt dry. His mouth seemed suddenly incapable of forming a coherent sentence. “I mean, no, it’s not to soon. Yes, to drinks. Drinks sound good.” 

Jord could see the look of relief that flooded Nikandros’s face. He wondered if Nikandros could see the same on his. 

 

******* 

 

They got drinks after work that week. Nikandros shared war stories from running his own business; Jord joked about his office’s crazy politics. They both probably drank too much. And of course Jord ended up back in Nikandros’s apartment as the night wore on. It was the best date that Jord had gone on in a long time. He couldn’t stop smiling at work the next day. 

They kept texting each other and when the day of the rehearsal dinner came, they ended up sharing a table. Jord had worried about whether he’d had anything nice enough to wear, but Nikandros gently reminded him that probably no one would really be looking at him. So Jord went with what he had and tried not to worry so much. And Nikandros was right. None of the other guests looked at him in horror. The world did not open up to swallow him whole. The Veretian-Akielon fusion food they had was actually pretty damn good and by the time the entrees were carried out Jord had forgotten he’d ever been self-conscious about his outfit. 

Jord didn’t really get a chance to talk with Laurent for most of the dinner. He and Damen were constantly surrounded by friends and family who wanted to get photos, talk about one thing or another, give last minute marriage advice, and more. But as the night was winding down and the guests had started to leave, Laurent finally was able to make his way over to their table. Jord was the only one there: the other guests had left and Nikandros had left to go to the bathroom. 

Laurent took the empty seat next to Jord. “You look,” he started, looking Jord up and down. Jord looked down at his shirt, suddenly fearful that he had spilled something on himself during the dinner. His hand _had_ slipped when he was drinking that wine. But Laurent just smiled, “happy.” 

Jord let out a small laugh. “It’s your rehearsal dinner. Of course I’m happy. I’m happy for you.” He balked under Laurent’s knowing look, though. “Fine, also I started seeing Nikandros.” 

It was Laurent’s time to laugh. “That’s good,” he said. “I think he’s a good match for you. Damen and I were wondering if something was going to happen.” There was a mischievous look in his eyes, “Really glad those joint bachelor parties worked out.” 

Someone was calling Laurent’s name, so he excused himself. Jord watched him go for a moment before shouting out, “Did you seriously plan all this?” 

When Nikandros came back to the table, he asked, “Did I miss anything?” 

Jord shook his head. “Just – Laurent being Laurent.” 

 

****** 

 

The morning of the wedding was hectic. Jord arrived early to help Laurent get dressed. He was in charge of calling and double checking all the arrangements were perfect, and that no persons or rings were going to get lost in route. And of course he had to do it all with a photographer snapping photos at every opportunity. 

But oh, all that craziness was worth it when he was standing at the alter and watching his best friend get married. 

Jord had thought the might make it through the ceremony without crying, but then he saw Nikandros crying. And so maybe he cried. Just a little. 

After the ceremony came the drinks, more photos, the speeches, the cake, the dancing. Damen’s half of the guest went crazy when the DJ started playing Akielon songs, and Laurent’s half did the same when Veretian songs got played. (Jord gave Nikandros the most incredulous look when he didn’t recognize a single Veretian song.) The whole party lasted until the early hours of the night. It probably would have gone longer, but eventually the hotel where they were having the reception threw them out because Damen (joined by Laurent) had started to dance on the tables. 

Jord went back to the hotel where Nikandros was staying that night. 

A good wedding really was just a good party.


End file.
